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Greek Mythology - Jennifer Smith
Greek Mythology Art Pieces ---- Piece 1 (Clairmont coll no #) •Page 302 in Early Greek Myth. •Clairmont Collection, Princeton. Place/Museum: MID9611, SMID9816 (according to LIMC). No #. •The museum in which this piece is located could not be identified in order to ask to use their picture. The locations listed above reference the Gantz appendix that accompany the citation and the LIMC catalogue's ID of the collection. LIMC page that corresponds to Danae 57 used in the Gantz citation: http://www.iconiclimc.ch/visitors/limc_index_catalogue.php?source=114&term=Danae+57 A photo of notable card documenting the piece: http://agora.ascsa.net/id/agora/object/p%2029612 •A link to the picture from LIMC. http://www.iconiclimc.ch/visitors/imageview.php?source=142&image_id=11392&term=Danae+57 My Assessment: This citation references a fragment of a Red Figure Krater which has been dated to around 450 BC, according to Gantz on page 302. The shard portrays the frontal half of a person who is likely female based on the longer gown. She/He is facing right with a staff in his/her hand. A man with a beard and some kind of wrapped headdress on his head. One hand is raised while the other is rests against his side and the figure is holding a box-like object. The figures in this box cannot be seen as they are cut off by the broken fragment. It can be assumed from the context provided in Early Greek Myth that it is Danae and Perseus in their chest. The shard represents scenes as described by the myth of Perseus in which fishermen retrieve a chest with Danae and Perseus in it. None of the figures are completely depicted in the fragment so it is difficult to determine the type and appearance of people that are shown. It could also be that he is a fisherman wearing shorter, looser clothing that could be considered coastal attire. Akrisios may be the staff-bearing figure behind the larger man. In that case this would a scene depicting their initial banishment rather than Danae and Perseus being rescued. This is a fairly straightforward interpretation of the chest in which Danae and Pereus were imprisoned and figures either finding it or sending it off. The major unanswered question with this vase is the identity of the man with the staff and what the staff itself represents. I think this missing piece of information is crucial to determining which scene of the myth is portrayed. Unfortunately because the vase is fragmented and the only truly identifiable figure is the man in the middle, and even then he could be someone else helping to send them off or a fisherman helping find them. My sources for this assessment include Timothy Gantz's book Early Greek Myth and general knowledge of the myth. ---- Piece 2 (VG no #) •Page 310 in Early Greek Myth •Museum Naz Etrusco di Villa Giulia, Rome, Italy XXXX0.5408 •Link to museum webpage and picture: http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/44AC0B4A-DFC7-4CE1-A1DE-5B776AB14AFB •Image can be found on the Beazley website but I am not permitted to publish it: http://www.beazley.ox.uk ---- Piece 3 (3 Thasos) •Page 316 in Early Greek Myth •No location found, no accession number listed •Some vases have been found that depict similar scenes of Pegasus and Bellerophontes, however it can be assumed with reasonable certainty that this exact vase is not in existence or the resources necessary to locate this vase are no longer viable.